Inn Roads

The Ellis Hotel on Peachtree

The Ellis Hotel:
Atlanta's Historic Gem
By Kathleen Walls

Downtown Atlanta is filled with many chain hotels but one small boutique hotel stands out above the rest. The Ellis Hotel on Peachtree is that special little jewel every traveler loves to discover. It has style. It has history. It has legends. Most of all it has all the comforts and luxuries to coddle a weary traveler.

The hotel on this site originally was the Winecoff Hotel built in 1913 by renowned architect, William Lee Stoddard. In its time, the 15-story Winecoff Hotel was Atlanta's tallest and most luxurious hotel.

Historic marker about fire

Then on December 7, 1946, it was destroyed by the most deadly hotel fire in U. S. history. That night, 119 people lost their lives including some of Georgia's best and brightest high school students in town for a mock-legislative session at the Capital. From that fire came the fire codes now used in all hotels. A plaque just outside the side entrance of the Ellis Hotel commemorates that tragic event.

A new hotel, the Peachtree Hotel on Peachtree, reopened; this time with fire escapes and alarms but it did not succeed. By 1967 the building was donated to the Georgia Baptist Convention for elderly housing. Then if went through over two decades as an abandoned blighted building. Has it not been for its historic location, its fate might well have been the wrecking ball.

Ellis Hotel lobby

Then a new angel stepped in to rescue this grand dame in distress. This owner poured $28 million into restoring the faded beauty and turning it into a fabulous European style boutique hotel.

In October, 2007, this sleek 127 room beauty opened as the Ellis Hotel. Its history has earned it a spot on the National Historic Register. It's style and charm are fast earning it a place in the knowing traveler's heart as the place to stay in Atlanta. Just enter the lobby and breath in the distinctive scent of "Sea Island Cotton" while soothing music plays softly in the back ground, and you know this is your home away from home while in Atlanta.

Director of Sales and Marketing, Tracey Lyon-Mercado, stated, "We take pride in our service. In today's world of automation, people prefer the personal touch. We brand ourselves on unique and different and the personal touch is so important to us.

The Terrace Restaurant

They just launched their new restaurant called The Terrace this year. The em -phases is on natural organic local foods. (The restaurant is so good it rates its own feature in the next issue of American Roads so check back in April)

She is so right. I found this hotel to excel in those little thing that are so important but often overlooked by chain hotels. For instance, how often have you had to pay $10 or more or else drag your laptop all the way to the lobby or business center if you want to spend two minutes checking your email? Not at the Ellis. You have free internet in every room just sign in and you are online.

For watching your favorite show or just the news, each room is equipped with a large flat-screen television.

One of the rooms at the Ellis

Then there is the afternoon wine tasting at 5:30. You get to mix and mingle with other guests and sample some of the great wines that are served at the Ellis.

Don't you hate to get a computer wakeup call? At the Ellis, you will get a cheerful call from a real live person who will ask if you need another call. It starts your day on just the right note.

You not only feel welcome at the Ellis, you feel secure. Should an intruder attempt to follow you, he will get no farther than the elevator. To use the elevators at the Ellis requires a room card be inserted. Only then can you ascend to the floor of your choice. Even the location is geared for safety. The Peachtree Center MARTA Station is just steps out of the key-secured side door.

Ellis fitness center

For women traveling alone there is one more incentive to choose the Ellis; its Women's Only floor. The tenth floor is complete with all the things a woman needs and some she only wants; curling irons as well as blow dryers, A cozy terry robe, an honor bar full of choices such as panty hose and other little necessities as well as chocolate and other nibbles and a full supply of drink choices. Although the Woman's Only floor is geared to women, all of the hotel's rooms offer a great honor bar. Then there is the great fitness room where guests can work out.

For the icing on the cake there is even a ghostly legend. People have claimed to have seen spirits at the windows while the building was still empty.

Some of the honors the Ellis Hotel has been awarded are: Recognized National Green Seal Property, Silver level , Atlanta Downtown Design Excellence Award for Best Hotel Design, 2008, Atlanta's Urban Design Commission Award for historic preservation, 2008 , ConventionSouth  readers named The Ellis "Best New Hotel for Small Meetings."

Don't take my word for it. Just try the Ellis on your next trip to Atlanta and you, too, will be singing its praises.

http://www.ellishotel.com/
176 Peachtree Street, NW
Atlanta, GA 30303
Reservations: (866) 455-1145
Phone: (404) 523-5155